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“Wolverine and the X-Men”: An Appreciation

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All images Copyright Marvel and Nickelodeon

When I was growing up, my two favorite action cartoons by far were Batman: The Animated Series and Fox’s X-Men. While Batman still holds up surprisingly in both the art and storytelling department, X-Men hasn’t fared quite as well, save for nostalgia sake. X-Men ran for five seasons between 1992 and 1997, at which time there was a three-year gap of X-cartoonery until 2000’s X-Men: Evolution, which changed the comparative ages of a lot of the characters to put them in public high school along with several equally teenaged members of Magneto’s Brotherhood. I did not particularly care for this incarnation, though it lasted for four seasons. I basically thought my enjoyment of the X-Universe in animated form was over until recently, when I was trolling through Netflix and happened upon a show called Wolverine and the X-Men.

This lasted only one season, in 2009, and comprises just 26 episodes, but, I dare say, it might be the best version of the mutants I’ve ever seen onscreen. How did I miss this when it was on?! Why isn’t there more of it?! This series has everything I want in a sci-fi action show: great characters, a compelling story arc, explosive fight scenes, and fantastic visuals. It’s one of the most cinematic television cartoons I’ve seen and it has the kind of scope that typically only anime delivers. Oh, and did I mention it deals with time and traveling within it? Cuz that’s a huge selling point.

The series opens a year after a mysterious explosion at the Xavier School left the building in ruin and Professor X and Jean Grey missing. All the remaining X-Men have gone their separate ways and have attempted to return to “normal” life. However this isn’t destined to last, as the government-funded Mutant Response Division (or MRD) is hunting down mutants in order to detain and register them, as a way of appeasing public outcry and Senator Robert Kelly’s anti-mutant rhetoric. This action against mutantkind precipitates Wolverine and Beast to ally again and try to rebuild the X-Men. After finding and re-recruiting junior members Forge, Iceman, and Shadowcat, and getting generous financial help from Angel, the Xavier Institute begins operating again. The problem, however, is that without the Professor or Jean to operate Cerebro, finding the more far-flung members, like Storm and Nightcrawler, will be especially difficult. Enter Emma Frost, the powerful but mysterious telepath who wants help and to join the team. Wolverine is of course suspicious of Frost, but sees no better alternative. Her trustworthiness and Logan’s inability to let her (or anyone) get close is a major theme in the series.

Not all the X-Men want to come back right away. Cyclops has been in isolation since the explosion, in a bitter depression after the loss of Jean. His return to the team is contingent on their finding her. He’s a bit of a mess for most of the series and it’s quite interesting to see Cyclops, who in every other series is the goody two-shoes, be reckless and unstable while Wolverine does his best to take on the role of leader. Nightcrawler is happy the X-Men are back, but finds it more prudent to help mutant refugees reach the island kingdom of Genosha, Magneto’s sanctuary for mutants that, wouldn’t ya know, isn’t as idyllic as he makes it seem at first.

It’s from Magneto that the X-Men retrieve the comatose body of Professor X, and this is where the bit about timelines gets going. When Charles’ body is returned to the X compound, a vision of him from 20 years in the future appears and speaks to Wolverine. It appears that Xavier woke up from his two-decade coma to a dystopian future world where mutants and humans alike are fugitives, all under the scourge of the huge robotic Sentinels, being controlled by the sentient Master Mold. He tells Wolverine that some time in his near future, some event will occur that leads to this horrible future, and it’s up to the X-Men to make sure it doesn’t come to that. This is what I really love about this show. It seamlessly switches between the X-Men in the present and Professor X, Bishop, and a number of other mutants fighting the Sentinels in the future. Some episodes take place entirely within the apocalyptic future world and the two stories impact each other immeasurably.

The series also features cameos or guest appearances from numerous X characters, and just about all of them get their moment to shine. Gambit isn’t a main character, but he’s an important one, as are Mister Sinister, Sabretooth, Mojo and literally dozens of others. It’s a show in which anyone could show up at any time, and it makes total sense. Much of the series deals with Magneto’s very different relationships with each of his three children, and at no point does this seem like a digression or like you just want it to hurry up and get back to the main plot. And even if you did, you wouldn’t have long to wait until it went back there. The only complaint I have is that Storm and Angel’s relationship doesn’t get much attention until it becomes strained. However, it’s a minor complaint.

What truly impressed me about this series is that it always seemed like it was leading towards something. Series head writer Greg Johnson and company clearly had an overall plan, and it paid off amazingly well. The first three episodes formed the story “Hindsight” and the last three formed “Foresight,” and the twenty episodes in between all build the conflict, either giving characters richer growth, tying together plot threads in order to create new ones, or simply to offer missions that result in great action sequences. Is the episode where Wolverine helps Nick Fury re-capture the Hulk integral to the overall plot? No, but it shows us how the lead character has changed since his marauding Weapon-X days. This one series brings together so many different elements from the various X-Men comics that having it all fit and make sense within a single season is a miraculous feat.

So why did the show end after just one season? Might have had to do with ratings (I know I didn’t watch it, regrettably), but it’s been reported that the studio couldn’t secure financing with the backers. That really is a shame, but it’s not unheard of in the animation world. The one thing I’m grateful for with Wolverine and the X-Men is that the storyline is resolved satisfactorily. There is a teaser for what surely would have been a great second season, but it doesn’t lessen the impact of the first season or make it any less a complete story. If you haven’t done so, do yourself the favor of watching Wolverine and the X-Men. It’s a journey well worth taking.

The Hulk episode of this series actually tied into the “Hulk VS” DVD which had a two different Hulk stories “Hulk Vs. Thor and Hulk Vs. Wolverine”…the episode title is even Wolverine Vs. Hulk, the reverse of the title on the DVD…I believe that some of the flashbacks it shows Wolvie having are supposed to be from that previous encounter…

Indeed it was the best of the X-series. Best story-telling, best characterizations… I’m hoping that there will soon be a Marvel Universe cartoon where all of the Marvel characters can be in one series. When I was a teen I was half-expecting a Secret Wars cartoon to happen.

It’s really sad how barely anyone knows about this show, because for me, it does a better job than any cartoon or movie about the X-men. Something I love about it is the relationships between some characters, specially Nightcrawler and Wanda.

I completely agree with this article. I too had just discovered this show on Netflix and finished the series just on Tuesday. I had never seen it on tv either, surprisingly because my favorite Saturday morning cartoon was X-Men when I was growing up. I couldn’t believe it when I found out it had been cancel! The show was just as good as the original. I liked Evolution, it was fun, but it always seemed to lack in some department. And the way the first (and only) season of Wolverine and the X-Men ends, it’s just plain cruel to not have continued that story!

This show was like one season out of a really great X-Men series. And not the first season; more like the 2nd or 3rd season, where the first episode picks up after a thunderous cliffhanger.

The first episode alone is a testament to highly efficient storytelling, dropping the viewer head first into a sprawling narrative already in progress without feeling overwhelming or rushed.

It was kind of frustrating at times with some characters who don’t get much play because…it was like they already had their character development in the previous season that doesn’t exist. But overall I felt these 26 episodes combined the best elements of the two previous shows; it had the scope and feel of the comics just like the 90s show, and the tight and consistent writing of “Evolution”.

This is truly the best X-Men cartoon ever! It was my favorite show in 09. So dissapointed to not get the AoA season. I still hold onto the hope that Disney will resurrect the show for its Marvel block on DisneyXD. 1 million to save WATX on Facebook has great pics of season 2’s AoA concept art, and it’s a great page too!

Do yourself a favor- if you haven’t seen Spectacular Spider-Man watch that right away- WATX was ok- and yes- just ok.
But all the talent came together for Spectacular- watch it and you will see what I mean.

There’s an X-Men anime they’re about to bring to the States. Visually it’s pretty appealing, but I have no clue about the story (I’ve only seen chunks of it and don’t speak Japanese). Trailer on this website — http://marvel.com/tv/show/156/x-men_anime

Apparently the plot involves the X-Men (or “Ekkusumen”) having to travel to Japan and deal with another team.

I watched the first season of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which is what lead me to WatXM. I quite enjoyed Avengers, excited to watch season 2.

I have not seen Spectacular Spider-Man. Did you know there’s been like 7 or 8 Spider-Man cartoons over the years? It’s insane. There’s been more Spider-Man shows than Batman shows, so that’s a crazy huge feat.

I literally just finished watching the series, and let me just say I was in tears. Then I realized that there wasn’t a next season and just about destroyed my television. Sometimes I hate how emotional the nerd side of me gets……